Hinge guard for sofa beds



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. w.` NEuNHl-:Rz

HINGE GUARD FOR SOFA BEDS Filed Sept. 17. 1941 April 20, 1943.

April zo, 1943.

H. W.NEUNHERZ HINGE GUARD FOR SOFA BEDS Filed sept. 1v; 1941 Isl" Patented Apr. 20, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

Thisinvention relates to hinge constructions for sofa beds, and more particularly toV such hinge constructions having guards to protect the sofa upholsteries from wearing and snaggingon` the movable hinge parts, and to prevent intere ference ofl the upholstery with hinge parts operation.

Objectsl of the invention include the provision of a simplied but eliicient hinge constructionof the sofa bed type; the provision of a hinge havingY means to vlatch it in soia positionv of the seat and backrest units and means quickly and easily unlatching the same to form the bed, with a guard of particular construction to prevent interference and wearing of the mattresses, etc., occurring when thehinge latching parts are actuated;l and the provision of a. simple but effective guard and gauge for. latching hinges of the sofa bed type.

Other objects and advantagesoi the invention` will. appear hereinafter.

Referencev is to be had to the drawings,.in whichaccompanying Fig. 1 is:a side elevation of a hingeand guard` as. applied to a sofa bed, and showing the, parts;

in bedforming position thereof;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the hinge andguard with parts broken away, showing the.

parts .just priorto latchedjcondition of the hinge; Figis a side eievation of the hinge and guard showing the partsjust prior to unlatching the hinge;

Fig. 4 is a perspective of the guard; and Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

This invention relates to that type of sofa" bed.

in which the seat and back-rest units or mattresses are pivoted together along corresponding edgesand are swingably mounted, by means of a pair of end hinges of particular construction,

so that the back-rest may be automatically latched in raised position, or unlatched to be.

swung,V with. the seat,V to horizontally aligned bed-forming position. The hinge structure employed necessarily has moving latch parts, which tend to rub against and snag on or tear the upholstery and to become entangled in the same and thus prevent the proper operation of the hinges, but by providing a novel hinge-guard and gauge device this objection is overcome. Only one hinge is here disclosed, but it is to be understood that there is another similar but reversed hinge at the other end of the sofa bed.

In Figs. 1 and 3, the numeral I8 indicates the back frame member of a sofa bed, and i2 ndicates an end board. The back rest is shown at I4 and its mattress at I5, whilethe seat is la,- beledY lilandv its'mattress 28. An angleiron support 22 is screwed or` bolted to the top edge of the board I 2 and relatively long and short'arms 24and 26 are pivoted to1the verticalside of this iron.V Short-arm 26 is=pivotedfatV 28 to thetop portionsof a pair-of'hinge plates 30, 32, and the pivot`28'forms `a pivot connection for these plates.

P late 30 lis secured to the back rest I4 and plate .V32 to the seat. I8, `and thegplates aresoarranged as-nto be separated at the seat' and'back rest but incline towards each other at the pivot 28. Inorder to locate. the platesin the same, plane', oneplate is o'iset as at34 to accommodate.

the other;

Long arm 241s pivotedl toy plate 3D as at. 3S, and ,therefore it will bepseenV that .the entire hinge structure, together withf theback restY and seat, mayv be swung upon arms 24, 26, to'locate the adj acent, edges of the mattresses either as shown in Fig.v 1, or `moretowards the back l0, in which position the long arm ensures that the backrest.

will bepositioned substantially vertically. However, since4 the. hinge so; far` described will not maintain theparts in; this position, alatch must,

hel provided.

A relatively long lever 38 is pivoted at one end atY 4l!` tohinge' plate, 32, and a spring 42 is arranged-to; continuously urge this lever counterclockwise` as; seen. in Figs; 1, 2, and 3.` At'its free end, lever. 38 isprovided. with a notch 44 havinga slight undercut 46 adjacent acam sur-` face 48, and a pin 50 is 30. the, spring will prevent their dislodgement, and the hinge plates, hence theback rest and seat,

provided on hinge plate will be rigidly connected.. Thus, supposing the, seat, I 8i to be lifted.` at its` iront edge, so as; to,

pivot about28, the lever 38 willberetracted from itsposition showngin Fig. l, andA the. pin will engage; in thenotch. This condition willoccur in Fig, 2ifk the lever. 38 be: the right. As soon as this latching action takes place, the seat may be swung down, thus raising the back to a sitting position, and the weight of the parts will maintain the structure in sofa form.

A small pawl 52, notched at 54, is pivoted to the lever at 56, adjacent notch 44. This pawl is freely swingable, but lever 38 is provided with a stop 58 against which the pawl normally rests under the influence of gravity. However, if the parts as shown in Fig. 2 be swung further than before recited, to position as shown in Fig. 3, the notch 54 will engage pin 58, even Hence if the pin 58 engage in undercutM,

drawn: slightly to.

though the latter is also in notch 44. Therefore, when the seat I8 is swung clockwise, Fig'. 3, the pawl 52 will raise lever 38 up out of engagement with pin 50, against the action of the spring, and the latch is broken, so that back rest and seat are no longer rigidly connected and may assume the position of Fig. 1. It will be seen that the construction as above described provides easy transfer of the parts from sofa to bed and vice versa merely by a simple manipulation of the seat I8.

It will be seen from the above that pawl 52 is a very important element in the successful operation of the sofa bed, and that it is pivotally mounted on the movable lever 38 by means of a pin at 55. These parts are quite liable to snag on the sofa bed upholstery, especially that of the end arms, and cloth often becomes wedged between member I4 and the pawl, thus preventing the operation thereof. When this happens, either to the pawls at both ends of the sofa bed or only to one pawl, the operator has a tendency to try to force the parts, thus twisting them and causing permanent damage.

Therefore, however well the above recited structure operates, the lever 38 and pawl 52, and especially pin 56, are liable to become entangled in the mattresses and upholstery, interfering with their operation and to snag and tear the upholstery of the mattresses, especially in the region of the back rest I4. A special guard structure which will prevent interference with the operation of the device has been provided, and this guard isshown per se in Fig. 4. A flat triangular plate 6U having curved edges 62 is formed with a flange 64 on one side and out-turned ears 65 are provided for attachment thereof to hinge plate 30 as by Welding or rivets B8. The flange 64 is arranged to lie on a curve generally paralleling the movement of the free end of lever 38, and between the latter and back rest I4. The non-flanged or open sides 82 of the plate 60 allow the lever to move freely through the guard, as will be apparent from a comparison of Figs. 1 and 3. Pin 50 extends thru the hinge plate 30 and plate B0 and serves to aid in retaining the parts.

It is to be particularly noted that the extremes of range movement of pin 56 are covered by the guard, see Figs. 1 and 3, so that upholstery, threads, etc., cannot become entangled in the parts, and lever 138 and pawl 52 are enclosed during the operating range of their movements.

Flange 54 provides a closure element at the bottom of the latch movement range, and forms a gauge for correct assembly of the entire hinge on the end board I2 and back rest I4. It is common experience to find that wooden members, such as the end boardV and back rest referred to, vary considerably in their dimensions, and if the back rest is too thick, for instance, or the end board too narrow, the free end of lever 38 will impinge on and even be stopped by the back rest.

In assembling the present hinge, the guard and gauge element 60 is positioned on hinge leaf 30 by pin 50 and riveted at 68, so that flange 64 will always be uniformly located. Plate 22 is set in the only position possible on board I2, and hinge leaf 30 is correspondingly located by its flange on back rest I4. If flange 64 does not just flt back rest I4, then the parts are incorrect, and this condition can be seen at a glance by reason of the flange. If it is spaced from member I4, the latter must be discarded; if it cannot be assembled due to too great a thickness of member I4, then the latter can be planed down to llt. Hence the flange guard has a double function and by its use perfect hinge action is always obtained, thus improving Athe quality of the goods.

It will be seen from the above that a simple, efficient, and positively acting latch hinge has been provided, the latch parts having an efficient guard to prevent damage to the upholstery of the sofa bed.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

l. A device of the class described comprising a support, pivoting seat and back rest elements on the support, latching means therefor comprising a hinge leaf for each element, a flange on at least one hinge leaf, means forming an aperture in said one hinge leaf, said aperture being located a predetermined distance from the flange, a plate having a pin therein for entry into said aperture to secure the plate to said one hinge leaf, means for spacing the plate and said one hinge leaf, said last named means and the pin locating said plate in predetermined parallel relation to said one hinge leaf and its flange, a flange on the plate spaced from the first named flange a predetermined distance by said plate spacing means and the. pin, a frame member for the seat element having a width to t between the flanges, a free-ended lever on the other hinge leaf, a notch in the lever to receive the pin to latch the hinge leaves together, said lever being selectively movable to disengage the pin and notch, said plate flange guarding the free end of the lever during a part of its movement ad jacent the frame member, said lever being located in a plane intermediate the plate and one hinge leaf.

2. A device according to claim l wherein the movement of the free end of the lever is along a curve determined by the pin acting as a. rest for the lever, and wherein said plate flange is curved to conform in general to a part of said movement.

HERBERT W. NEUNHERZ. 

